ESSENTIAL PILOT SKILLS
Flying—like playing professional sports or performing surgery—is a perishable skill. If you don’t use them regularly, your abilities will degrade. That’s why athletes practice constantly and medical teams regularly take proficiency training. It’s also the reason why the concept of currency is embedded so deeply in the rules that govern aviation.
As a private pilot, it isn’t enough that you pass the written test and complete your check ride. If you want to carry passengers, you must have completed three takeoffs and three landings in the past 90 days and be able to demonstrate that fact with notations in your logbook. In addition, you must complete a biennial flight review every two years. If you don’t fulfill these requirements, you are still a private pilot, but you are not current, as in “currently allowed to fly.”
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